Pushkin's stature in the history of Russian literature is unparalleled; in fact, he is variously called Russia's "national poet" and "the father of Russian literature." While critics suggest that Pushkin's relative obscurity outside of Russia is due, in part, to his particular use of language, which is not easily translatable, other masters of Russian literature, such as Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoevsky acknowledged their great debt to the achievements of Pushkin.

Born May 26 (June 6, modern calendar), 1799, into an aristocratic family, Pushkin was raised in a literary environment. He traced his lineage back six hundred years, including his maternal great-grandfather Hannibal, a black slave bought by Peter the Great in Turkey and brought back to Russia. Both his father, Sergei, and his uncle, Vasily, were writers, and the young Pushkin had free access to his father's extensive library, which contained a large collection of French literature.